The three countries of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam represent
Indochina, located in Southeast Asia to the south of China and to the east of
Thailand.Like much of this part of the
world Indochina was colonized by Europeans.The French occupied Indochina for most of the nineteenth century and for
the first half of the twentieth century.

The physical environment of Indochina is mostly mountainous.Climate, the Indochina peninsula as a whole
experiences a monsoon tropical climate type of environment.The summer rains are brought by winds from
the oceans leaving the peninsula subjected to typhoons during the late summer
period.The winters are cooler and
drier, and are dominated by winds blowing outward from Asia’s interior.Cambodia experiences a tropical savanna
climate and tends to receive about 60 to 80 inches of average annual
rainfall.Cambodia is mostly plains
along and to the west of the lower Mekong River with mountain fringes to the
northeast and southwest.Vietnam has two
different climates in the north and south.North Vietnam experiences a humid subtropical climate while South
Vietnam tends to have a tropical rainy climate.Vietnam receives the most rain on the Indochina Peninsula averaging over
80 inches annually.Laos also has two
different climates because like Vietnam is an elongated country that stretches
between two climates.North Laos has a
humid subtropical much like that of North Vietnam.South Laos, however, is much like Cambodia in
that it experiences a tropical savanna climate.Laos also receives averagely 60 to 80 inches of rainfall with some parts
reaching over 80 inches.Laos is
mountainous, sparsely populated, and landlocked between Vietnam, Cambodia, and
Thailand.These three countries are each
very different and a particular culture dominates each country.

The religions of Indochina are numerous, but the main
religions are prevalent throughout the region.Indian traders brought Hindu and Buddhist religions across the ocean
from the west.The distinctive Indian
culture and architecture, reflected in temples of Angkor, Cambodia, led to the
area that includes Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam being called Indochina.People known as Mon and Khmer occupied the
Cambodian area from the North and between A.D 800s and 1200s it was the center of
the Khmer empire.The language of
Cambodia is Khmer while the religion is Buddhism.Except for about a half million people which
are Vietnamese, almost all 14 million people are ethnic Cambodian.Vietnamese and Lao arrived in the territories
that now form their national centers.There are about 68 different ethnic groups in Laos with the largest of
the groups being Lao.They are
linguistically and culturally related to the Thais and their religion along
with Cambodia is Buddhism.Almost
nine-tenths of Vietnam’s people are ethnic Vietnamese.They are closely related to the Chinese in
many cultural aspects, including language and shared religious elements of
Confucianism, Buddhism, and ancestor veneration.Large Chinese minorities live in major countries
in each of the three countries of Indochina.

Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam remain poor.Vietnam was catching up having a 2000 economy
of $31 billion which was up four times since 1990.Cambodia and Laos had 2000 total GNIs of less
than $4 billion each.The three
countries of former French Indochina have experienced relatively little
economic expansion.This area seems to
have had almost continual warfare between 1941 and 1975, and fighting persisted
until the late 1990s in Cambodia.Of
these three countries, Vietnam is the most prosperous; however it is still
among the world’s poorest countries.Conditions grew worse after the fall of the Soviet Union, Vietnam’s main
supporter and trading partner.Vietnam
still has overcome these conditions though by following the Chinese model.However, Laos and Cambodia face more serious
problems.In Cambodia, ravages of war
exacerbated an already unstable situation, while Laos faces special
difficulties owing to its rough terrain and relative isolation.Laos and Cambodia are also hampered by lack
of infrastructure; outside the few cities, paved roads and reliable electricity
are rarities.Economies of both remain
largely agricultural in orientation.The
Laotian government is pinning its economic hopes on hydropower
development.The country is mountainous
and has many large rivers and could generate large quantities of electricity,
which is in high demand in neighboring Thailand, if it can find funding for the
necessary dams to build.Despite the
lack of development, Cambodia and Laos are not as miserable as one might
expect.Both countries have experienced
an upsurge of economic activity in the early and mid 1990s.Although the three countries have lower GNI
figures, few people are seriously malnourished.

There have been a number of conflicts on the Indochina
Peninsula and it seems when one country has a problem it drags one of the other
two along with it.The French occupied
Indochina during the 1800s and early 1900s.They had built roads and railroads and encouraged manufacturing.In the 1950s and 1960s, communists had
advanced and overtook continental Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.In World War II, Nazi Germany occupied France
and persuaded the French colonial government to allow Japanese forces to pass
through Indochina.After the war ended,
the French tried to reestablish control of the area, but communist groups
forced them to leave northern parts of Vietnam in 1954.During the Vietnam War, the Ho Chi Minh Trail
was ill-defined network of forest passages through Laos and Cambodia, thus
steadily drawing these two countries into the conflict.After several years, Vietnam invaded Cambodia
and installed a communist regime.Also,
Vietnam had stationed significant numbers of troops in Laos.The divided country, with a communist north
and free-market south, was subject to further warfare.In 1975, North Vietnam was victorious over
the United States and reunified the country.Laos went through much strife along its border with Vietnam, slowing
economic development.Cambodia became
independent in 1953, but suffered 30 years of civil war and invasions by
Vietnamese.By the 1990s, Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) switched from political to economic objectives
and embraced its former “opposition” of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam as new
members.

Demographic
Analysis based on World Population Data Sheet 2007

Country

Population

(in millions)

% Under

15

% Over

65

Rate of Increase

Proj. Pop. for 2025*

Proj. Pop. for 2050*

Population

Density

Infant

Mortality**

GNI PPP (for 2006)

Cambodia

14.4

37

3

1.7

19.6

25.5

79

71

2,920

Laos

5.9

44

4

2.4

8.5

11.8

25

85

2,050

Vietnam

85.1

29

7

1.3

103.6

116.9

257

20

3,300

* In millions.Numbers projected are from 2007 Population
Data Sheet

** Infant deaths per 1000.From 2007 Population Data Sheet

Vietnam has by far the largest
population than its two neighboring countries in Indochina.The three countries are not really stable as
can be seen by the percent of persons aged less than 15 is greater than percent
of persons aged over 65.Cambodia and
Laos have higher natural rates of increase, but because they have such high
infant mortality rates, Vietnam grows faster in terms of population than these
two countries as can be seen by the projected populations.All three countries are fairly small in size
and because of Vietnam’s greater population it also has a high population
density.As for the low GNI figures,
these countries are not as miserable as one might expect.They all have experienced upsurges of economic
activity and few people are seriously malnourished.

Countries

Cambodia has suffered the worst of the catastrophes.A communist insurgency overcame the
American-backed military government in 1975.Known as Khmer Rouge and led by Pol Pot, this
organization had ruled for four years with exceptional savagery.In 1973, the population was about 7.5
million, but by 1979 it was down to only about 5 million.A third of their population had basically
been murdered.Some of the intended
victims managed to escape as refugees from Cambodia’s Killing Fields to
adjoining Thailand.There were also
escalating border conflicts with Vietnam, and in 1979, Vietnamese quickly
conquered most of Cambodia and installed a puppet Communist government.The Khmer Rouge, supported by China, began
guerilla resistance against Vietnamese.Peace negotiations among Cambodia’s contending factions led, in 1991, to
an agreement resulting in the restoration of democratic government under United
Nations (UN) supervision.Cambodia is
very poor, but more stable conditions have helped the economy improve
recently.Garment manufacturing is the
largest industry, but there are fears that Cambodia will prove unable to
compete with growing exports of cheaper clothing from China.Tourism is the fastest growing industry, with
more than a million visitors arriving in 2004.Few visitors miss Angkor, Wat, still coveted
by some in Thailand because it once stood within that country’s borders.Cambodians resent Thai claims to the site
which has led to riots in 2003.Even in
this relatively peaceful time, the people of Cambodia must deal with a
persistent scourge for war: landmines.Sown by hostile forces during years of warfare, the antipersonnel
explosives remain active indefinitely.Mines
have maimed more than 35,000 Cambodians, and about 50 more casualties occur
each month.People sow new mines,
imported mainly from China and Singapore, to protect their property in
Cambodia.

Laotians also suffer from ordnance dating to the Vietnam
War.Between 1964 and 1973, U.S.
warplanes dropped more than 2 million tons of bombs – more than the United
States dropped on Germany in World War II – on the Laotian frontier with
Vietnam in an effort to disrupt communist supply lines on nearby Ho Chi Minh
Trail and to prevent communist troops from entering Laotian cities.This plain of Jars region retains the
distinction of being the most heavily bombed place on Earth.An estimated 30 percent of the bombs failed
to detonate, and today, millions of unexploded American cluster bombs remain.About 200 people are killed or maimed yearly
by these explosives.Of Lao’s 17
provinces, 15 contain unexploded ordnance, according to the UN, creating a
serious deterrent to farming in a country with inadequate food supplies.Efforts are underway to clear the explosives
and hoping to de-mine enough land to produce ten thousand tons of rice yearly,
which would feed fifty thousand people.Despite gambling revenues, landlocked Laos is now one of Asia’s least
developed countries, ranking 135th of 177 countries.About 80 percent of its people are peasant
farmers.Gold and copper mining, which
began in 2002, may bring much needed revenue to Laos.Given the conditions of warfare, political
turmoil, and inefficient economic systems, their outlook seems to be improving
as tensions relax, supply of goods and services improves, and the number of
returning refugees exceeds emigrants.

Vietnam is now restoring its war-torn landscape through
large-scale reforestation, agricultural reclamation, and nature conservation
programs.Vietnam’s economy has improved
markedly.Poverty fell by more than half
in 1990s and again in 2004.Vietnam had
Asia’s second fastest growing economy after China.They have become a major exporter of rice
which is second in the world only to Thailand.Vietnam is also pinning hopes on exports of its proven reserves of six
hundred million barrels of oil, especially to oil-hungry China.In addition to joining ASEAN, Vietnam in 1995
restored full diplomatic relations with the United States.They signed a trade agreement in 2000; Vietnam
began exporting shoes, finished clothing, and toys to the U.S.

9.What area retains the distinction of being
the most heavily bombed place on Earth in an attempt to disrupt supply lines
along the Ho Chi Minh Trail?

A. Border between Cambodia and
Vietnam;B.
Border between Cambodia and Laos;C.
Border between Laos and Vietnam;D. None
of the Above

10.What is helping Laos bring in much needed
revenue?

A. Gold Mining;B. Silver Mining;C. Copper Mining;D. Both A and C

11.Which country has the world’s second fastest
growing economy?

A. Cambodia;B. Laos;C. China;D. Vietnam

12.Which country is the world’s second most
exporter of rice?

A. Vietnam;B. Thailand;C. Laos;D. China

13.Which country has the largest infant
mortality rate?

A. Cambodia;B. Laos;C. Vietnam;

14.Which country is the most prosperous?

A. Cambodia;B. Laos;C. Vietnam

15.Which country has a population growth of 1.7
percent?

A. Cambodia;B. Laos;C. Vietnam

First submitted by Jason Jurey on
Mar 8,1996.Then by Rachel Schuette on Nov 8,1996.Updated by AlenaKaplun on Apr 8,1997.Updated by Robert Distefano on 11-20-98.Updated by Stephen Kingston on April Fools Day, 2001.Edited by Karen Oyler on 10.
Oct.’03.Updated
by Hisa Shimizu and Britney Wesson on Apr 8,
2007.Resubmitted by
Keith Janssen on April 30, 2008.